Letter To Racetrack
by RacesGirlxx62
Summary: After a crazy two months with the Newsies, Racetracks new girl runs away, and he is going after her.
1. The Letter

Dear Racetrack,

First off I want to say I am sorry. I can't keep this secret anymore. I love you, I think, but I can't just not tell the guys. They took me in and made me part of the family. Lying to them for another minute is impossible. So I am gone. I might have been able to face the guys, but you I had no chance. You know my deepest secrets and I could tell you everything. You changed my life, even if I have only been here for a few months. Tell the guys I love them and miss them already.

I tried to think about what you would think while you read this. I hope you care about me the same way I care about you. I also hope that you're maybe thinking about coming after me. So don't try. I am in my place; I don't want to be around anyone right now. I am sorry for leaving. I will never forget you. I love you, goodbye.

Love,

Surthing

Nikki Torres

Racetrack put down the letter and stood up he was going after her, no matter how long it took. He loved her and wasn't letting her go, at least not without a proper goodbye.


	2. The Plan

At the age of 14, Nikki Torres was left on her own. Her father had passed away after an injury at the factory, and she was left to move in with her Uncle Jim. Before she even arrived at her uncle's house she knew she wasn't going to like it here. This was Manhattan, not Brooklyn. It was a different place with different people, different places, and different, everything. She was not ready to leave everything she knew. But, she had too and so she was on her way to her new home in Manhattan, New York.

When she arrived, she slowly got out of the stagecoach and walked up to hug her uncle. "I've missed you Nikki!" he said excitedly. She just smiled and tried to hold back the tears that were about to pour over her eyelids. He broke from the hug and grabbed her bags and told her to go upstairs to get settled in. She walked slowly up the creaky stairs and when she reached the apartment something was different than she remembered. She remembered a big beautiful room with paintings and just a happiness about it. She had last been here when she was 7 but could it really change that much. Apparently it had.

The room was still the same size, but the paint was faded and the paintings were gone, along with the happiness. She didn't want to live here, but she could tell her uncle needed her help and he needed it fast. Uncle Jim followed behind trying to carry all her bags up to the stairs, when he reached the door to her new room he dropped them all the flopped on the couch. Nikki still stood there, motionless. She couldn't believe she was going to live here.

"So, I know it's not like your old house but it's all I can afford since I got fired from the factory." Uncle Jim said when he realized Nikki hadn't moved. He had worked with Nikki's dad; they had gotten into an accident. Uncle Jim got fired and Nikki's dad passed because of the injury. Neither of them would tell Nikki what had happened and she really didn't want to know.

"It's fine Uncle Jim, do you want me to get a job?" she replied hoping he would say no.

"Would you mind? I can't work for a few weeks and I think we need the money." He replied.

"Sure I will go out and find something tomorrow"

"They are always looking for girls to be seamstresses?" He suggested.

"I don't exactly know how to sew or do anything girly, one of the downfalls of not having a mother." Nikki's mother had died during childbirth.

"Well what about being a newsie?" Nikki laughed to herself. She knew all of the newsies in Brooklyn and had even dated Spot Colons, the head newsie. She remembered the newsies strike and seeing the Manhattan newsies come to town. They were cute and she wished she could join them, but she knew the rules.

"A girl can't be a newsie Uncle Jim, it doesn't work that way."

"Well it may sound crazy but what if you don't be a girl" Uncle Jim replied. Nikki stared at him in shocked, but then she realized, that could work. No one knew her here and she always wanted to be a newsie. Maybe she could try. She would try.


	3. The Boy

Nikki woke up the Sunday morning to the sounds of the news boys outside. She slowly opened her eyes and jumped at the sight of the tan walls. This was not her room, her room had light blues and her mirror hung on the right wall. She was not in her home; this was Uncle Jim's house, her new home. She laid in her bed, listening to the sounds of newsies yelling the headlines, trying to sell there "paps," as she had heard the Brooklyn newsies call them. She laughed remembering her old boyfriend Spot Colons. She missed Brooklyn, but most of all she missed him and the other newsboys, they were her best friends and she had to leave them, probably to never see them again.

"Nikki! Come down stairs!" Uncle Jim called from the living room. Nikki slowly got out of her bed and trudged down the stairs to where Uncle Jim was standing at the door. And at the door stood _him_. He introduced himself but she missed his name because she was staring into his eyes. They were a gorgeous hazel color and he had a smile that was to die for. She couldn't take her eyes off him…

"Ay? Nikki right? Do ya want a pap or not?" He said in his New York accent.

"Huh? What? Oh sorry, uhm yeah I will take one just let me go get some money." She responded coming out of her daze.

"Nah, just take it your uncle is one of my best customers and you're cute, so here ya go." He said as he handed her the paper.

"Th, th, thanks." She stuttered.

"Bye Nikki." The boy said as he turned around to leave. He turned back and looked right into Nikki's eyes. She hoped he would say something else but he turned away again and walked to the next house. She sighed and walked into the kitchen to meet Uncle Jim. She set the paper down on the table and tried to find something for breakfast, nothing.

"So how are we going to pull off this newsboy thing?" Uncle Jim said breaking the silence.

"Oh! I forgot about that! Well I guess we need to cut my hair and get me some boy clothes and I don't really know what else." Nikki responded. Uncle Jim had that covered. He had a friend who could cut her hair and she could wear his old clothes. "May this could work." Nikki thought.

"All dressed?" Uncle Jim called from outside Nikki's bedroom door. Nikki opened the door and struck a pose to show off her new "outfit." "You are defiantly not a boy, but you sure do look like one. Here is a few dollars, almost all I have left. Use this to stay at the lodging house with the other newsboys and do buy your papers. Come home once a week to give me what you make and get a good meal in. If you don't like it you can always come home. Don't let anyone know about this little secret. You can do this. Ready?"

"I think so. I will come back on Sunday. Thanks Uncle Jim. I love you." Nikki said. She kissed her uncle on the cheek and hugged him goodbye. She walked out the door with little hope that this would work.


End file.
